New Year Looks Promising

It’s that time of year again. Even though the horrid winter weather might get you down, Fayetteville music lovers still have the opportunity to rejoice in the upcoming months, as several concerts are lined up around town that will ease you into the new year.

Though it is a rescheduled show from November, Perpetual Groove returned to George’s Majestic Lounge this week. But while PGroove is a headliner around the area (and play a genre found all too often playing NWA), they are certainly not the biggest name making their way to George’s this month. That honor would have to go to Memphis alt-country rockers Lucero.

Lucero has played several times in NWA, including a set at The AMP earlier this year opening for Cross Canadian Ragweed. However, demand is still high apparently as George’s will host the band two nights in a row this Friday and Saturday.

The five-piece ensemble — vocalist/guitarist Ben Nichols, drummer Roy Berry, bassist John C. Stubblefield, guitarist Brian Venable and pianist Rick Steff — are surging in popularity around the nation and even signed a deal with the Universal Music Group in 2008.

The alternative rock and country blend might not be the freshest sound on the market, but with Lucero’s gritty songwriting and musicianship, this is a show not to be missed.

Rounding out January will be the Yonder Mountain String Band and the Eli Young Band.

Colorado’s YMSB are no strangers to the area. They performed to a packed crowd at last year’s Wakarusa Music Festival. The band has released a plethora of albums over their decade of existence, but that is nothing compared to the energy, experience and dancing that comes with their live performances. In fact, it is a little surprising at first if you have never witnessed a mass amount of line dancing. Fayetteville music fanatics will be able to find it all when YMSB performs at George’s Majestic Lounge on Tuesday night.

The Eli Young Band has grown to become a staple around the local music scene. Though the country band is based out of Texas (formed by the acoustic duo of James Young and Mike Eli, who were later joined by Chris Thompson and Jon Jones), the group has play around the area multiple times a year to mass audiences, bringing an array of music that has accounted for three Top 40 singles on the Billboard Country Singles Chart. They will hit George’s on Jan. 28.

The holidays might be over and the real world is kicking back in gear, but the music never stops. While January looks extremely promising when it comes to live music, it only gets better as plenty of other local favorites and big-name acts are scheduled to perform in NWA in the next few months. Let’s just hope this trend continues and all of the NWA music scene will have no choice but to keep rejoicing in live music glory.